suzanne pleshette

This is always the most depressing end-of-year list -- the TV people (in front of and behind the camera) who died during the past year. This is a big list, but if we forgot anyone, let us know in the comments (and check out the obituary category for more).

What can you say about Bob Newhart that hasn't been written a million times over? He's a TV legend, with two classic sitcoms (The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart) on his resume. He's also a stand-up comedy legend, who left a humble accounting career to win a Grammy with his first comedy album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, in 1960. He still tours today, and has been seen on both the big and small screens in a number of projects (Legally Blonde, Elf, ER).

On Sunday at 8 PM ET, he co-stars in The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice, the third in the Librarian series that has become a nice little franchise for TNT. He plays Judson, who acts as a guide and mentor to Noah Wyle's character of Flynn Carsen, a librarian who acts more like Indiana Jones than the person who stamps the insides of new books.

I spoke to Newhart by phone last week; we discussed the movie, shooting in New Orleans, his recent penchant for memorable supporting roles, and if he thinks the multi-camera sitcom has a future.

When Suzanne Pleshette passed away a couple of weeks ago of respiratory failure, it seemed to derail the plans for her to get a star on the Walk of Fame sidewalk in Hollywood. A lot of times when a celebrity has died they won't do a public ceremony. But tomorrow's ceremony is going forward, with a familiar face at the helm.

Pleshette's television hubby Bob Newhart will lead the ceremonies tomorrow, on what would have been Pleshette's 71st birthday. Newhart also gave the eulogy at her funeral last week, along with BobNewhart Show co-star (andlongtime Simpsons voice) Marcia Wallace.

Pleshette was set to get her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 31, which is also her birthday. No word yet on whether or not the ceremony will still go ahead on that day, but I'm sure that Pleshette will get her star on the sidewalk at some point.

I was just at the supermarket and saw the headline in one of the gossip mags that Suzanne Pleshette was on her death bed, and now I hear that Pleshette has died of cancer at the age of 70.

TV fans will remember Pleshette from her role as Emily Hartley, wife of psychologist Bob Hartley on CBS' The Bob Newhart in the 70s. She reprised the role in the classic final episode of Newhart. Pleshette appeared in several other TV shows as well, including a role as Mark Feuerstein's mom on Good Morning Miami and James Garner's love interest on 8 Simple Rules, as well as guest spots on Columbo, Will & Grace, The Name of the Game, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Invaders, It Takes A Thief, The Fugitive, Wild, Wild West, and several others.

On the big screen, she appeared in The Birds, The Shaggy D.A., The Lion King II, The Power, Support Your Local Gunfighter, and many films.

With the series finale of HBO's The Sopranos fast approaching (a week from this Sunday, to be exact) speculation is running wild as to what's going to become of Tony Soprano and his companions. The biggest question is whether or not Tony will alive or dead when the final credits role.

Michael Starr of the New York Post is betting that we'll know something about the series finale after the next-to-last episode airs this Sunday. Starr believes that this week's episode could be the one that features a final battle between Tony and his enemies, while the last episode could be the one that ties everything up in a tidy package, leaving Tony alive and kicking. Few clues are being given in episode description. For example, for this week's episode, "The Blue Comet", HBO writes 'The allegiance of those closest to Tony is put to the test and a case of mistaken identity has serious ramifications.' Not much to decipher from that notice, is there?

Its also been reported that show creator David Chase, who co-wrote this Sunday's episode and wrote and directed the series finale, has filmed several endings to The Sopranos to throw everyone off as to the fate of Tony. My guess is that Tony will wake up from a dream and Suzanne Pleshette will be there in bed next to him. Hey, it worked before!

Tom Poston, one of the classic veterans of TV comedy, died earlier today at his home in Los Angeles. He appeared on The Steve Allen Show in the 1950s and Newhart in the 1980s.

Poston played handyman George Utley on Newhart, and was also a regular on another Bob Newhart series, Bob. And to keep the connection to Newhart going, he played Cliff "The Peeper" Murdock on The Bob Newhart Show in the 70s. Poston also appeared on Grace Under Fire, Mork & Mindy, The Simpsons, Will & Grace, Home Improvement, Murphy Brown, Get Smart, Coach, The Love Boat, Studio One, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Just Shoot Me, That 70s Show, and dozens of other shows over the years.

Poston was married to actress Suzanne Pleshette, who played Newhart's wife Emily on The Bob Newhart Show.

Since TV is in everyone's home, it's one of the pop culture things we can all talk about. Entertainment Weekly lists their 10 Big Watercooler Moments, those moments on TV shows that we were all talking about the next day at work (or school).

While some of their choices are obvious and deserving to be on the list (Lucy going into labor on I Love Lucy, Ellen DeGeneres coming out on Ellen, Maddie and David finally doing it on Moonlighting, the "Who Shot J.R." ep of Dallas), are they really serious when they list the episode that Michael J. Fox left Spin City? Really? Hey, I like Fox, but was his character (or even the show) that important and talked about? I think that Fox announcing he was ill was certainly something we all talked about, but I don't think that it should be on this list. Especially considering what EW left off the list: the finales of M*A*S*H*, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Friends; several Seinfeld moments (that was the topic of discussion every morning after where I worked), and the final episode of Newhart with Suzanne Pleshette.

If I were to pick 10 of my favorite TV people of all-time, my list would include people like Rod Serling, Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner, everyone behind The Simpsons, and, of course, American Idol judge Paula Abdul.

OK, I'm kidding about that last one.

But also on that list would be veteran comic Bob Newhart. Not only did he star in two great classic sitcoms (The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart), and a third underrated one (George & Leo), he's also a brilliant standup comic. He even had the #1 album and won a Grammy, beating out people like Frank Sinatra. He's funny, has a unique style, and just seems like a helluva decent guy.